Fruits of the Hedgerow

IT SEEMS LIKE A YEAR since I last set off to spend a whole day out drawing.
I want to ease myself in gradually so, rather than packing flasks and sandwiches,
I decide to treat myself to lunch and a tea break at the Squire's Tearooms
at the Waterton Discovery Centre at Anglers Country Park, a few miles south
east of Wakefield.

I've got a plan for the day; I want to draw hedgerow fruits for my latest
book but, as you can see from my sketchbook (below, right), I've become
involved in the subjects and lost the simplicity of my rough (left).

In my mind, I wanted the hedgerow fruits laid out like items in a stamp collection
but, in reality, hedgerow plants intertwine and don't fit neatly
into the scheme I'd planned. As an illustrator rather than a designer, I let
the
plants dictate the design of the page.

In
his latest series, chef Jamie
Oliver remarked; 'Sometimes cooking isn't just
"Bish, Bash, Bosh!"'. Well it's the same with drawing; it's not that kind of
an activity and you soon find yourself getting, well, drawn into the
process, absorbed by your subject.

The perfect day - blue skies, sun on my subjects -
makes it a pleasure to be out drawing from nature again. I must do it more
often.